by K.N. Lee
“No!” Mamosia cried. “Leave Garren be.”
“Now, now, dear,” Tamarisk said, “no need to upset yourself. His uncle merely wishes to have a few words with him.”
Ywen’s chuckle was pure evil. Speaking to Garren was the last thing on this twisted man’s mind. The king pulled the frightened boy toward him and raised the dagger.
Mam cried out.
Gilly saw her father’s death happening all over again. Then she remembered Jarrod’s story of the twins. “Kill him uncle,” she said, “and you will surely die.”
Dagger still raised, Ywen hesitated.
“Do it,” Tamarisk said, “she is trying to distract you.”
“He was wrong before,” Gilly said. “Didn’t he promise you would be as powerful as my father if you killed him?”
Ywen’s gaze flicked to her with interest. She’d hit a nerve.
“The spell was not completed with Keegan,” Tamarisk said. “I had not counted on this boy being magical as well. You needed to kill both of them.”
“He’s wrong, uncle. Listen to him and it will be the end of you. Did he tell you Jarrod from Erov named me Defender of the Light?”
Ywen regarded her in silence, his gaze drenched in envy.
“It took me awhile,” Gilly said, “but I now understand. I know how Light works. Kill Garren and you will die.”
“What is she talking about?” Ywen asked Tamarisk.
“She is reaching at anything to prevent you from killing her brother,” Tamarisk said. “Kill him and you will be the most powerful sorcerer in all of Ryca.”
“Wrong,” Gilly said. “I carry the family’s magical gift, not the men in the family. You killed your brother for nothing. And look at you, you were ravaged by the power that was released from my father. Make the wrong move again, and it will kill you.”
Uncertainty crept into Ywen’s gaze.
“For the last two decades,” she said, intent on feeding that spark of doubt, “Tamarisk has ensured he is the only practicing sorcerer in the realm. Would he now step aside to a more powerful sorcerer, stronger than him? Do you truly think your dear friend is that altruistic, uncle?”
“You would let her turn you against me with a few words?” Tamarisk asked.
The king’s gaze flew between friend and niece. He tried to decide whom to believe.
A thump on the door, followed by a second and third one, suggested Tom was attempting to break in. The foolish man would put out his shoulder soon. Why didn’t he go for help?
“Haven’t I stood by you all these years when everyone else turned away?” Tamarisk asked.
“Who failed you all these years, uncle?” Gilly asked. “Have you never wondered why?”
“What proof do you have of what you say?” Ywen asked.
“Release me and I will show you,” she said.
“No,” Tamarisk said. “Don’t be a fool. Kill the boy and be done with it.”
Gilly speared the sorcerer with a scornful glance. “Afraid you can’t handle me without your toy? You were so brave when I was a child. The years have drained you of your courage as you drained those poor sorcerers of their powers.”
“She has a point,” Ywen said, smirking. “If she tries to trick us, you have access to all the power you need to retaliate. Let her go. I want to see her proof.”
Pressed tight against her family in one corner of the sitting room, Gilly crowed in silent triumph. Her plan was working. Once released, all she had to do was stall long enough to regain her strength by wedging a deeper break between this unholy pair. Then she was ready to pit her power against Tamarisk and he wouldn’t have his cloud to back him up.
She scanned the room for possible weapons. There was little furniture other than cushioned benches positioned against the walls. The only other item was the cupboard Ywen leaned on for support while he held young Garren prisoner. Nothing to use as a weapon. Then her gaze fell on her father’s sword that Garren dropped. Tamarisk had kicked it across the floor.
She suddenly noticed the silence in the room. The door to the corridor remained shut but Tom’s pounding had ceased. Had he gone for help? She hoped so.
Tamarisk approached, his furious gaze screaming murder. Had she pushed him too far? Instead of killing her, a twirl of his finger and the cord twisted away from her but kept the rest of her family imprisoned.
She gave the sorcerer a curious glance. He’d surprised her. She’d pegged him as crafty, suspicious and untrusting. Yet he’d obeyed Ywen’s order to release her.
The relationship between these two men confused her. The old feeble king was an easy match for Tamarisk. Yet, since she’d seen the two together, Ywen continued to order Tamarisk around as if he were a servant. The sorcerer bowed to the king’s wishes even though he was stronger. What was Tamarisk waiting for? What did Ywen have that he wanted?
Had she read the sorcerer wrong? Was there a deep abiding friendship between these two? If so, why did Ywen so easily suspect Tamarisk of tricking him?
Gilly took a deep breath and let it out slowly, assessing the new situation. The draining effect of the cord receded leaving an aching where it had touched her. She was free. She needed time to regain her strength and to remove Garren from the King’s grasp. Her family remained vulnerable while the magic-deadening cord bound them. If she attacked Tamarisk directly, he might turn his anger and vengeance on her family.
What was that cord he wielded so casually? He never touched it, controlling its movement from afar. Could she too, now unbound, move it? So far, she’d only tried to attack it while confined.
“Come here, girl,” her Uncle Ywen said.
He held young Garren by the throat. The frightened boy struggled in the king’s grasp.
She’d missed her little brother. And Tamara. And Mam. A part of her, empty for so long, filled with love for the three members of her family she thought were long dead.
“Quickly,” Ywen said.
Gilly approached the twisted king. Tamarisk followed.
Too close. “Make room, sorcerer,” she said. “You can see anything I hand my uncle from a hand’s span away as from a nit’s.”
Tamarisk gave her a sickly smile and backed away.
Gilly’s attention swung to Ywen. Although free, her original plan was still worth a shot. Separate and conquer.
“How will killing Garren give you power, Uncle?” she asked.
The king nodded to Tamarisk. “Show her.”
The sorcerer remained where he was.
“Show her!” The king’s hand shook and the blade pressed against Garren’s neck nicked the boy.
She began to question his hold on his sanity. She had better get Ywen to see things her way and fast.
Tamarisk reluctantly obeyed his king’s orders. He rifled through a nearby cupboard and fetched a sheet hidden in the back within a wooden box. His mood seemed to change when he returned to them and handed the sheet to Gilly with a flourish and his ingratiating smile.
She took the paper and read. It told a shorter version of the tale of King Tarrius and his curse. Gilly felt a telltale tingling in her fingertips as she read the writing. There was magic at work here. She cast a quick glance at Tamarisk. Did he think she would not notice?
The main difference between this tale and the one Jarrod had given her, resided in the last line. Tamarisk’s version read, in order to obtain the confined Light and claim that power, the gifted must be overcome by the cursed.
She handed the sheet to Ywen who took it with one hand, the other still pressing the dagger to Garren’s neck.
“I am the cursed,” he said. “I am the ungifted twin.”
“Yes, uncle. But the last line of the legend has been altered.”
“You lie!” Tamarisk snatched the sheet from Ywen’s hands. “You have no proof.”
Gilly reached inside her pocket and took out the sheet Jarrod had left for her. Opening it, she showed Ywen the complete legend, which related the betrayal of King Tarrius and the
reason he placed the curse on his brother’s descendants.
In it, the last line read, To release the confined Light, the gifted and cursed must join forces.
“Uncle, you were duped. Killing your brother did not transfer his power to you. It prevented you from ever being able to cast a spell. The murder destroyed your potential to release your latent talent to use Light.”
She gestured toward his mangled body with an open hand. “In fact, I think your actions have manifested in your body to give you your present stature.”
He eyed his curled hands, bowed knees, and clubbed feet. She could see his mind digesting her suggestion. Would he believe her? She almost felt sorry for him. He had been lied to, and led to this pitiful state by a man he called friend. Was he capable of seeing what had been done to him?
“Don’t you think Tamarisk had his own reasons for wanting Keegan killed?” Gilly persisted, “besides you gaining the ability to use Light?” She was satisfied he understood her when Ywen’s gaze flew between Mamosia and Tamarisk. “Who misled you into thinking you could gain power by killing your brother?” She didn’t expect an answer. They all knew who had been behind the killing.
As she turned toward Tamarisk, her mother screamed a warning. The sorcerer tossed a binding over Gilly and she shrank to the ground cowering from the shafts of pain it shot into her.
Fool!
She’d concentrated so hard on turning her uncle to her cause, she’d forgotten to keep an eye on the sorcerer. But maybe she had accomplished her goal. Maybe Ywen would turn against Tamarisk. Her last hope died when she glanced at the King. Ywen was a broken man. The dagger slack in his hand, he stumbled back.
Garren made a run for the door but Tamarisk caught him by the shoulder and tossed him toward her family. He adjusted the binding that held them to include the boy. Mam pulled her frightened son closer to her.
“You’re clever,” Tamarisk said to Gilly. “But not clever enough. Time I finished what I began twenty years ago.”
“Don’t you touch my sister,” Anna shouted.
“Tam, leave her alone,” Mam pleaded.
He turned to her mother with eyes wide and a tentative smile. “That’s the first time you’ve spoken my name in decades, Mamosia.” He approached her and gently touched her cheek with a finger.
“Leave my daughter alone. Please. Don’t harm her.”
“Harm little Saira,” he said in an offended tone. “Our little girl? Why would you think I’d do such a thing? We’re going to be a family soon and as Ywen has just learned, it isn’t wise to hurt each other, now is it? I don’t want you to worry about a thing.” He lifted her chin a little. “You and I were meant for each other. And it was thoughtful of you to preserve your body in such a youthful state until we could be together. Now, don’t give yourself worry lines, my dear. Once we’re husband and wife, as we were meant to be before Keegan interfered, your children will be my children.”
Mam’s gaze spun to Gilly in fright.
Gilly shook her head. She hoped her mother would be wise enough to go along with Tamarisk. At least, long enough for Tom to get help.
The door to the corridor shook and wood splintered.
Tom hadn’t gone for help. The foolish man had gone in search of an axe. Didn’t he realize there was no way for him to kill Tamarisk himself? The sorcerer was too powerful. If only he’d gone to find Talus. With the King’s Warriors, they might have had a chance to overcome the sorcerer.
“Well, the boy is persistent,” Tamarisk said. “Must give him credit for that. This is like old times, isn’t it, Mamosia? We shouldn’t leave young Tom out of our reminiscence, should we, Saira?”
Gilly’s heart contracted painfully when he gestured at the door.
“No,” she shouted. “Leave him alone.”
The hammering at the door ceased. The silence stretched interminably. And then she heard Tom’s footsteps retreat from the corridor, one step at a time, then faster and faster they flew.
“Cowardly boy grows into cowardly man,” Tamarisk said. “Comforting to know people don’t change, isn’t it, Saira?”
She watched his eyes and realized there would be no reasoning with the mad sorcerer.
“Yes,” she agreed, still kneeling on the ground, unable to gain the strength to even stand. She was silently thankful that Tom had been removed from harm. “I was wrong about him.”
“You were.” He squatted in front of her and spoke softly. “You’ve been a bad little girl. Telling your uncle Ywen about my secrets. Now we’re going to be family, I’ll have to teach you a lesson about interfering in your new papa’s affairs. A lesson long overdue, I think. Spare the rod and spoil the child, I’ve always thought.”
“No,” Mam shouted. “Tam, no.”
He grabbed Gilly by her hair and hauled her up. Her mother cried for mercy and Anna cursed Tamarisk. The pain of the binding enveloped her. She became aware the sorcerer lifted and carried her out of the room. As if still in a dream, the walls tilted and the floor receded. Through the open doorway she spotted her family.
“Let her go,” Mam shouted.
The same words echoed from a lifetime ago. She had struggled then, as a little girl. Tried to loosen Uncle Tam’s hold on her as she was raised over the balcony. Mam’s eyes wide with fear. Blood on her clothes testifying to the death of Papa at his brother’s hands. And Uncle Tam was going to kill her. Why? Uncle Tam said he liked her. That he was her friend. They’d played hide and seek and ten pin in the village. She’d sneaked the housekeeper’s pies to him after Papa said he couldn’t come to the castle anymore.
Tamarisk had never been her friend.
Gilly shivered at the risks she’d placed herself in as a child. She struggled now but the binding shot pain into her body and she quieted. The walls wavered. She shivered. Her head felt light-headed and her stomach heaved with fear. Beyond the railing, the ground called to her from far below.
In her dreams she’d fallen over and over again, waking up in a sweat, heart pounding. The memory of past nightmares resurrected a true memory in vivid detail.
The ground closed in on her at an alarming speed. She screamed. Then the silent moment as bones crushed and twisted on impact on rock hard ground. Shuddering, she instinctively reached out to Tamarisk for comfort but the binding bit into her sending fire up her arms.
“Tam, please let her go.”
That sounded like Mam’s sweet voice. Her beloved Mam. She’d disappointed her so many times. But despite all Gilly’s faults, Mam still loved her. Her mother’s words sounded far away, as if from a dream.
“I’ll do anything you want. I’ll…I’ll marry you, Tam, I promise. But please, don’t hurt Saira again.
Chapter 18
“Finally, you’ve come to your senses.” Tamarisk still held Gilly as he brought them back to the doorway of the room where he had imprisoned her family. “Of course, I’ll marry you, Mamosia. I love you. I have since the first day Keegan introduced us. We’ll have the very best wedding. Every dignitary in the land will be present to witness our nuptials. I’ll even invite Jarrod, as he’s the new leader of Erov. Too bad about his father. He had a chest problem that led to his demise.”
He broke into a crazy giggle and his arms shook. Gilly almost fell but he adjusted his hold until she fit securely. He was careful to stay away from the cord tied around her.
Her view of the ceiling shifted again as Tamarisk returned to the railing. A rush of cool air on her back suggested the floor no longer resided below her.
“Let’s talk about the wedding, Tam.” Her mother’s voice retreated like a fading dream. “First put her down.”
“I intend to. Be patient.” Tamarisk’s raspy voice grated on Gilly’s nerves. Why didn’t he drop her and get it over with?
The railing butt into her side as he leaned over to look past her. “You’ve grown heavier, Saira. Almost too big for Uncle Tam to hold you up, even with the help of his magic. It’s been a long day and my arms are tired.”<
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Mam and Anna’s shouts echoed dimly in the background.
Gilly’s mind quieted. Uncle Tam was right. Better if she’d never lived. If not for her, Mam and her brother and sister would be safe, frozen by her mother’s spell.
No! a voice screamed in her head.
Anna?
If not for you, I would have been trapped with mother. I wouldn’t have met Marton. Skye and Bevan wouldn’t be alive. What about Tom?
Tom! He had watched over her, her entire life. He loved her. She wanted to be with him. Her eyes opened wider. “I don’t want to die! I want to live.”
“Too late to wish that, Saira,” Tamarisk said. “You’ve interfered too often in Uncle Tam’s plans.”
Gilly suddenly remembered the game she played with her papa. It came vividly to mind, her moving things and her father blocking her. Like the binding blocking her magic now. Only it was painful. But it too was just an object, like the toys and bowls and pillow she moved about. She’d beaten her father at the game and moved those objects then, she could move this cord now.
Tamarisk’s fingers loosened their hold.
She focused past the pain the cord inflicted, ignored the agony as if it were another of her father’s irritating blocks, and flung the binding off her and onto Tamarisk.
He screamed and threw her away.
Gilly reached for the railing and her right hand connected with a bar. At the same moment Tom leaped forward, his sword aimed at Tamarisk’s back. Tom hadn’t fled. He’d beaten past Tamarisk’s mind spell. What a clever brave man.
Her fingers slipped, sliding her downward.
It all happened as if in slow motion. Gilly caught the look of horror on Tom’s face as Tamarisk’s body, pinned to his sword, blocked his path to her. She reached with her other hand for the railing and her right slipped. Before she could get a secure hold, the banister rose past her.
